Thank you for subscribing to the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control (BIWFC) quarterly newsletter! This is the inaugural edition of our newsletter, and if you’re receiving it, it means you either attended one of our events or have signed up to receive the newsletters by subscribing through our recently launched website.

The purpose of the newsletter is to report on the latest developments in wildlife fertility control technology and to provide updates and announcements about the Institute’s upcoming events, programs and projects. With that in mind, be sure to let us know if there are any articles or news reports that you’d like us to share with our subscribers in future newsletters.

Enjoy the newsletter! We welcome your ideas and feedback!

Stephanie Boyles Griffin, Science & Policy Director

IMPORTANT DATES

Urban Deer Fertility Control Workshop, May 2, 2018

BIWFC will host this workshop in Tarrytown, New York. The workshop will include presentations from professionals on urban deer management planning, research, and regulation. Attendees will learn how to advocate for, develop, and implement non-lethal deer management programs in their communities. Please contact our Managing Director Monique Principi for more information on how to register.

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON NON-SURGICAL CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS OF PET POPULATION CONTROL, July 22-24, 2018

The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dog (ACC&D) will hold their 6th International Symposium on Non-Surgical Contraceptive Methods of Pet Population Control in Boston, MA. More information on submitting abstracts and sponsoring can be found on their website.

WORKSHOP ON WILD HORSE AND BURROS MANAGEMENT, Fall 2018

BIWFC tentatively plans to hold this workshop in Reno, Nevada.

BIWFC UPDATES

REQUEST FOR ARTICLES

The BIWFC Repository aims to be the resource for all research related to wildlife fertility control. If you authored or co-authored a peer-reviewed article related to the field of wildlife fertility control and you would like your work to be included, please forward the PDF articles tobiwfc@botstiber.org. We will contact the publishers for permission to archive your work and post on ourwebsite.

PZP CERTIFICATION

BIWFC Program Assistant, Rachel Soroka, attended a PZP Training Week hosted by The Humane Society of the United States and the Science and Conservation Center in October 2017. Participants learned the history of PZP, how to formulate the vaccine, and how to handle and use remote delivery devices such as dart projectors. Ms. Soroka is now certified in the remote administration of PZP to wildlife.

NEW 2018 GRANT PROGRAM

The BIWFC announces its new grant guidelines. The Institute seeks to fund public policy and education projects that advance the knowledge, acceptance and implementation of wildlife fertility control as a method of wildlife management worldwide. To learn more, please review ourguidelines.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

The BIWFC hosted the 8th International Conference on Wildlife Fertility Control in July 2017. The presentations focused on the progress and challenges of fertility control in a variety of species. To view abstracts and presentations, please follow this link.

IN THE NEWS

PILOT PROJECT IN WASHINGTON, DC

E&E News announced in November 2017 that a pilot project using ContraPest to contracept rats was set to begin at the National Mall in Washington. Read more about how the National Park Service and the Department of Health are partnering to tackle this pest issue humanely.﻿

DEER VASECTOMIES IN NEW YORK

The New York Times reported on a project focusing on reducing the deer populations in Staten Island, NY through vasectomies. Follow this link to learn why this is such a novel project.﻿

OVOCONTROL APPROVAL IN CANADA

In October 2017, Pest Control Technology reported that OvoControl P was officially approved for use in Ontario, Canada. Read more about the Canadian scheduling process here.

INDIAN GOVERNMENT FUNDS RESEARCH

The Indian Expressreported on December 27, 2017 that “the Ministry of Environment and Forests has approved a 10-year research project that attempts to develop an immunocontraceptive to [reduce] the populations of Asian elephants, wild pigs, and rhesus Macaques.”